1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a technology that implements remote start control on a vehicle by use of a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally known is a remote starter that controls driving of a driving apparatus such as an engine or a motor of user's vehicle by use of a mobile terminal. By use of this technology, a user can start the driving apparatus of his or her vehicle that is away from the user. Therefore, in an example, the user can turn on an air conditioner to control the temperature of the vehicle cabin to be appropriate before the user gets in his or her vehicle. Known these days is a remote operation system that operates an on-vehicle apparatus of own vehicle via a center by use of a mobile phone as a mobile terminal.
In common case when the user uses the remote starter, the user is far from the vehicle. However, when the user is too far away from the vehicle, it may be impossible for the user to get in the vehicle in a short time. In such a case, starting the driving apparatus by a remote starting function to control the temperature in the vehicle cabin may be useless. To prevent this, appropriateness of starting may be judged based on the calculated distance between the user and the user's vehicle, upon reception of the request for starting.
For calculating the distance between the user and the vehicle, information of the parking position of the vehicle must be obtained. However, there is a case where the parking position cannot be obtained in a case such as where the vehicle whose parking position is to be obtained by GPS is parked at an underground parking area. In such a case, since the distance between the user and the user's vehicle can not be calculated, there is a possibility that appropriateness of the starting cannot be judged.